Non-taxable transfer of UTMA stock shares to custodian?

I am custodian of my daughter’s UTMA account, which holds shares of stock in a small local company. My daughter has incurred educational expenses which qualify to be paid from UTMA account funds, but I would prefer to pay them out of my pocket and take stock shares as reimbursement. Is there any way shares of stock can be transferred to me from the UTMA account without creating a “taxable event” (such that I would adopt her cost basis), or is a taxable sale of shares the only available option? Thanks for your help

Unless the education institution will accept shares of the stock in payment for the expenses, your only recourse to tap the equity in the shares is to liquidate them within the UTMA to generate cash to pay the expenses.

If you exchange cash for some of the shares, that will trigger a taxable event, because ownership of the shares is transferring from one taxpayer to another (from the UTMA under your daughter's SSN, to you).

Regards,